The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that shelling yesterday damaged a power line near a main lift pumping station of the South Donbas Waterway in eastern Ukraine. It interrupted safe water supply for 1.1 million people in 50 nearby settlements on both sides of the “contact line”.
As Mali continues to face major political, security, human rights and humanitarian obstacles, it is of “utmost importance” that the international community ensure that national stakeholders live up to their commitments, the United Nations peacekeeping chief told the Security Council today, as he updated on efforts to advance the political transition and implement the 2015 Peace and Reconciliation Agreement.
At least 11,000 people have fled their homes following an attack by insurgents on the town of Palma, Mozambique, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Officials are working around the clock to provide assistance, including blankets and sleeping mats, but warn that hunger is rising.
In Timor-Leste, the United Nations is helping the Government amid the worst flash flooding and landslides in recent years that have damaged homes, road and bridges, affecting at least 10,000 people in eight municipalities. The Organization has delivered sanitary and dignity kits, plastic mats and blankets to those in need.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Dang Dinh Quy (Viet Nam):
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
A report released today by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan says that community-based militias in the country were responsible for 78 per cent of the 2,421 civilians killed in 2020, more than double than in 2019, as well as for abductions, which tripled in 2020, and conflict-related sexual violence.
The World Food Programme said today it has begun providing emergency food aid to vulnerable people in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and urgently needs $170 million to meet critical food and nutrition needs over the next six months. The agency noted that the outbreak of conflict there coincided with the peak harvest period.
The 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan seeks $3.85 billion to provide urgent lifesaving help to 16 million people. Some 20.7 million people need some kind of humanitarian assistance, including 12.1 million people in acute need, as Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and largest aid operation.
At least 14 civilians were killed in an attack by suspected combatants of the ADF on Sunday night in Bulongo village, east of Beni, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported. The Mission’s Force Intervention Brigade deployed to the area yesterday.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of El-Ghassim Wane of Mauritania as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
The United Nations and the Government of Iraq today released the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan which seeks $607.2 million in humanitarian aid to assist 1.5 million of the most vulnerable internally displaced people in Iraq and returnees. According to the overview, 4.1 million Iraqis need humanitarian assistance.
On 24 February 2021, the midterm report of the Panel of Experts on Mali, submitted in accordance with paragraph 4 of resolution 2541 (2020), was made available in all official languages on the 2374 Committee’s webpage.
The number of civilians killed and injured in Afghanistan rose following the start of peace negotiations in September, according to report released today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Organization’s human rights office. The country remains among the deadliest for civilians.
Ten years into Syria’s crisis, humanitarian needs are deepening, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says, with an estimated 13.4 million people requiring protection and assistance, up more than 2 million people from 2020. Nearly 60 per cent of the population is food insecure.
In north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations vaccination teams are supporting the Ebola response by rehabilitating treatment centres and boosting contact-tracing capacity, and today began a four-day mission to Guinea to assess the situation in Nzérékoré, where the first Ebola case was reported.
The period following the start of Afghanistan’s peace negotiations in September 2020 has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of human rights defenders and media professionals killed in the country, a new report issued today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says.
The following statement was issued by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
Humanitarian officials are seriously concerned about the rapidly deteriorating food security situation in southern and eastern Madagascar, where more than 1.3 million people face severe hunger. The third drought in a row is compounding the effects of COVID-19 and the extremely limited access to essential services.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
